Wagering game machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines depends on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing wagering game machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Therefore, there is a continuing need for wagering game machine manufacturers to continuously develop new games and gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play.
One way to add visual appeal to wagering games is to present wagering game content using stereoscopic three-dimensional graphics. Stereoscopic three-dimensional graphics appear to have depth, so graphical objects appear to hover in space, in front of display monitors. Although stereoscopic three-dimensional (3D) graphics may be visually appealing, presenting stereoscopic 3D graphics may require vast processing power and other computing resources. Further, presenting all gaming graphics in 3D can overstimulate some players' vision or can disorient some viewers who are not used to viewing images on a 3D display.